Sorry for the delay on this one, yesterday was my birthday! I turned 21~ :D Not that I plan on actually doing any of the things associated with being 21, but, you know, still a big deal. If anyone wanted to make art of the story as a gift, I'd be thrilled. Particularly ones with Koda, she's just so cute~ And I'd be happy to share links on here with spaces in them) as well for others.

Anyway, enough of my begging! On with the story. Enjoy!

Come morning, Hiccup was surprised when he woke up on his own rather than to his Toothless alarm clock. Concerned, his eyes darted over to the dragon's bed, where he discovered that his room was much more crowded than he remembered it. Koda was still snoozing peacefully beside him, but Toothless was shouting something rather rude out the window. "Toothless, be nice!" Hiccup scolded, his voice startling both Toothless and Koda. Both dragons jumped at the same time, which would have been comical if Hiccup was not so concerned about his dragon.

"How can you tell he's saying something mean?" Astrid wondered aloud. She was sitting at the foot of Hiccup's bed- how she managed to get there without him noticing was completely beyond the boy, but whatever. In addition to Astrid, Fishlegs was also intruding upon his personal space, a rather rare thing for the teen.

Rather worried, Hiccup sat upright and blinked at the two, "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"That's what we came to ask you, actually," Astrid replied with a small smirk, "What did you see on that island?"

Hiccup rubbed his temples and glanced over at Toothless, who murmured, "And so it begins."

Heaving a sigh, he began, "Toothless kidnapped me." The dragon glared at him indignantly, but the boy carried on, "He wanted to show me the real Isle of Night."

Astrid seemed confused by this, "But why? I thought he was happy with you."

"He is!" Hiccup said a bit too quickly, "Just, he knew I was upset and wanted to cheer me up. I mean, I don't think Toothless wanted to go back there at all. That's why he was acting all weird the night before we left." He elaborated, "Toothless and I are... a lot more alike than I thought."

"Don't say any more," Toothless growled lowly, "You're digging your own grave."

Fishlegs, who had only heard the growl, wondered aloud, "What's gotten into Toothless?"

"He- he doesn't like to be reminded of his past, do ya bud?" He reached out to the dragon and ran a hand over his head, "I don't blame you." Toothless cooed in response, nuzzling into his hand.

Koda, who had not been informed of this whole "humans can't understand dragons" and "Hiccup is keeping it a secret for now" deal, asked snappily, "Why are you talking like you can't hear us, human?"

"He can't hear us, Koda. Only Hiccup can, but it's a secret. Don't make him answer you." Toothless replied softly, looking from Koda to Fishlegs, "Large human males like to act as if they know everything, and get upset when they're not kept informed."

Hiccup had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at this. It was true, really. Snotlout, Fishlegs, his father, even Gobber all had that in common. Unfortunately, Astrid also had a nasty habit of feeling entitled to information. "And how do you know about his past? It's not like he could tell you."

The boy did his best to keep a straight face, averting his gaze to look at Toothless rather than Astrid, "I just sort of figured some of it out. I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface, but..." He shook his head, recalling information he could share with them without giving away his new secret, "But you know what's really interesting, Fishlegs," He addressed the Book of Dragons enthusiast now, "Night Furies keep the scales the hatchlings shed. The floor of the nursery is covered in several inches of them, so that when the young ones are learning to fly, the scales will break their fall! I discovered this firsthand when I fell down myself."

"Really?! How fascinating! I've never heard of anything like that!" Fishlegs squealed, moving in closer like a child at story time.

Hiccup nodded, "They live in a maze of tunnels, much like the ones the Whispering Death makes, only they're part of a natural cave system carved out of the said of a mountain-" He glanced up at the window they'd installed for Toothless to get in and out of, where Sky was now perched, eyeing him suspiciously, "Sky," He greeted, "Come on in, let's see how well-built the floor is." The dragon seemed hesitant at first, but eventually came to land between Toothless and Hiccup. That was probably not the best choice. Toothless lashed out suddenly, his teeth clamping down on Sky's tail. The sapphire dragon roared furiously and tried to throw Toothless off, and in a split second, Hiccup was on his feet. "Toothless, cut it out!" He scolded, grabbing the dragon by the shoulders and attempting to pull him away. Of course, he knew he stood no real chance, but he hoped the gesture would be enough to snap his dragon back to his senses. "We're supposed to make a good impression for Flamewing, remember? Quit picking fights!"

Toothless finally released Sky with a low growl, glaring at the other Night Fury as he settled back against Hiccup. "You're not the pet of the alpha around here, Sky, you'd do well to remember that."

"Toothless," Hiccup warned, a slight edge in his voice. The dragon glanced back at him and purred apologetically, rubbing against the teen.

"What was that?!" Fishlegs wondered aloud, voicing what both he and Astrid were thinking.

"It was almost like the three of you were having a conversation!" Astrid remarked, watching Hiccup's every move. "Hiccup... What's going on here?"

Hiccup heaved a sigh and shot a look at Toothless, "Your fault." He said pointedly before turning back to Astrid and Fishlegs, "Can you two keep a secret?" He asked, lowering his voice, "I don't want this getting out- don't even tell the other teens. Just between us, right?"

"Hiccup..." Toothless tried, but was completely ignored by the boy. Turning tail, he jumped out the skylight from which Sky had come and ran off.

Sky, looking rather pleased with himself, settled in to lick his wounds. This expression did not go unnoticed by one particularly observant young dragon, though she kept her mouth shut for the time being. "I don't know what happened. One minute, I was lying on the beach with Toothless in the middle of a meteor shower, and... Well, I made a wish on the shooting stars. Laugh if you want, but it actually worked. I can understand the dragons now, their language, I hear what they're saying the same as I can understand you."

"I don't believe you." Astrid deadpanned, folding her arms across her chest. "If that's true, what were those two fighting about just now?"

"Rank." Hiccup replied with a small sigh, "Toothless is feeling a little intimidated by Sky's presence because Sky holds a higher rank than him in their pack. He was saying that here, Toothless is alpha."

"Right... And who's Flamewing?" Astrid prodded.

Hiccup winced. This was probably going to come back and bite him in the ass. "Flamewing is the alpha of the Night Furies... And... Toothless' father. It's a sore subject, and he doesn't really want me talking about it."

"Just like you..." Astrid mused thoughtfully.

"Wait, so you can really talk to dragons?!" Fishlegs finally exploded, "Tell me more! What do they say? What does Meatlug say about me?"

"I haven't even had a chance to talk to Meatlug, Fishlegs, calm down!" Hiccup shouted, a bit more angrily than he'd intended. When silence fell over the room, he mumbled, "I'm sorry... This whole thing has me on edge. I don't like it when Toothless gets like this. He's being ridiculous."

Koda shifted uncomfortably, kneading the bed, "That's because he's a Pixie," She murmured, "Pixies always have self-esteem issues because of our rank in the pack. He can't help it, really."

Hiccup blinked down at the tiny dragoness for a moment before scooping her up in his arms, "I understand," He said softly, "But he should know better than to get that way with me."

The youngling shook her head, "It's because it's you that he's so upset. He's really, really scared of losing you, more than you know." She whimpered and pushed her head against his chest, "I know because I don't want to lose you, either."

Hiccup heaved a sigh and stroked the young dragoness gently, "You're not going to lose me, silly..." A veil of silence fell between them, at which point he noticed Astrid and Fishlegs had their eyes on him, expecting a translation. He hesitated a moment before muttering, "Koda was just telling me that runts- like her and Toothless- have self-esteem issues because of the treatment they get among their pack members."

Astrid furrowed her brow, "That's horrible!"

"Is it?" Hiccup asked dryly, a vague reminder of the way she had treated him. "Seems to be a pretty common practice, if you ask me." He glanced down at the Night Fury in his arms and added, "I don't know that I can say this for all dragons, but... Vikings and Night Furies aren't all that different." With this said, he got to his feet, "I'm going to go find Toothless and track down Snotlout and the twins." He announced, brushing past the other teens.

"Shall I come?" Sky wondered, taking a step forward.

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at the dragon and replied, "No, you stay here with Astrid and Fishlegs, get to know how life on Berk works." Astrid opened her mouth to protest, but the boy cut her off, "I need to spend some time with Toothless, no distractions. I'll bring Hookfang and Barf and Belch, but the rest of you stay here." When Koda whimpered softly, he amended, "You can come too, Koda."

Astrid eyed him warily, "A-are you sure? I mean, you don't know what kind of trouble they've gotten themselves into, and Toothless hasn't been himself lately, I'd be more comfortable if-"

"Astrid." Hiccup's voice was low and dangerous now, "You're not coming." With this, he stormed off, presumably to find Toothless, leaving Astrid, Fishlegs, and Sky to stare after him.

"What was that all about?" Fishlegs questioned, looking at Astrid.

"Whatever it was, I don't like that tone." Astrid decided before turning to Sky. "Alright then, I suppose we should start by showing you around the island. Meet us outside and we'll give you a tour."

Koda heaved a frustrated sigh, "I can't believe he ran off again. How are we supposed to find him? This island's way bigger than ours!"

Hiccup smiled a bit, "You just have to know where to look."

Koda raised her head, "Do you know where to look?" She wondered aloud.

"I have an idea," Hiccup admitted. It wasn't long before he was making his way down into the cove where he'd first met Toothless. Sure enough, the dragon lie perched on a rock in the shade, appearing to be asleep until the teen was standing just inches from him, at which point he opened one eye to look up at him. "You know, you shouldn't come here on your own. You'd be trapped if I hadn't found you." Hiccup pointed out.

"I knew you'd find me," Toothless murmured, "At least, if you looked for me."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Toothless, of course I'd come looking for you. You've got to get over this jealousy, nobody's taking your place, alright?" When the dragon seemed unconvinced, Hiccup brought his prosthetic leg into the dragon's line of sight, "We're a team." He repeated, tossing his friend a lopsided grin.

"About that." Koda murmured nervously, "Hiccup, I think you should keep an eye on Sky. He's up to no good." Hiccup raised a brow and glanced down at the dragon. "You were too distracted to notice, but... When Toothless left, he looked all proud of himself, like he'd made a major accomplishment by chasing him away."

"That's because he's trying to take Hiccup away from me," Toothless hissed, "Sky's always been that way, always out to take everything from me. He's a no good, greedy thief, and that's all he'll ever be." With this said, Toothless turned and began to stalk away.

Hiccup heaved a sigh and called after him, "Speaking of childhood rivalries, I told Astrid we'd go get Snotlout and the twins."

"Do we have to?" Toothless groaned, glancing back at Hiccup, "We could just forget about them a while longer, until Sky goes away."

"They will have gotten themselves killed by then." Hiccup replied dryly, mounting the dragon and placing Koda in the same position she'd been in before. "Come on, let's go get Hookfang, Barf, and Belch." With this, the dragon begrudgingly took off, only to land soon after when they spotted the dragons.

"Hookfang, Barf, Belch, let's go." Hiccup called to them, "I want to head out while we still have some daylight."

Hookfang groaned, "Do we really have to go after them right now? I was enjoying the peace."

"I know, I was too," Hiccup agreed, "But if we leave them to their own devices they'll only get themselves killed."

Three heads whipped around to stare at the boy. "You can... understand me, Hiccup?"

"Long story, but yes. Can we talk while we fly? I really want to get there before nightfall, we'll have a better chance of finding them." With this, the small flock took to the skies, and, as promised, Hiccup continued the conversation while they flew. "Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff can't know about this, alright? Astrid and Fishlegs already do, despite my better judgement, but don't make me give myself away in front of them, alright?"

Hookfang hummed in agreement, "As you wish."

"Hey, Toothless," Barf called out, "You'd better watch your back around that Sky."

"Yeah, he's something else," Belch agreed. "Ran into him this morning when he was still asleep, he was sleep talking, really creepy."

"Yeah, creepy," Barf agreed.

"What was he saying?" Toothless asked a bit impatiently.

"He kept saying he was going to kill Pixie, whatever that means." Barf announced, "I don't trust him."

Toothless glanced over his shoulder at Hiccup, "You see? I'm not making this up!"

"I never said you were," Hiccup murmured soothingly. "Did he say anything else?" He asked, glancing back at Barf and Belch.

"Uh... No, just kept repeating that. Why? You know this Pixie?" Belch wondered aloud.

"I know two." Hiccup gestured to Toothless and Koda, "We'll have to do something about that when we get back."

Toothless faltered, "Hiccup, Astrid could be in danger!" He pointed out.

"She can take care of herself." Hiccup said dryly, "Just keep flying."

Meanwhile, with our tour guides...

"And that's pretty much it!" Astrid announced, having shown Sky around pretty much the whole island from Stormfly's back, with Fishlegs and Meatlug in tow. Now just outside the dragon training arena, she slid off of Stormfly and said, "Since Hiccup's not here to teach us anything new, we aren't going to be doing any dragon training today, so Fishlegs and I are going to work on our hand-to-hand combat skills."

Fishlegs winced, "We- we are?!" He whimpered, hoping she would change her mind.

"Yep! You never know when you're going to be in a position where your dragon can't help you." When Meatlug still seemed hesitant, she added, "Or when your dragon needs you to fight on your own. Take me and Stormfly for example. The two of us were both captured by the Outcasts, separately. If I'd been stronger, I might've been able to get away to cut her free... You'd want to be able to do the same if it were Meatlug, right?"

"Of course I would!" Fishlegs replied defensively. He loved his dragon, and never wanted to see her get hurt. Realizing what she was trying to do, and that she was right, he heaved a sigh and dismounted Meatlug, "Alright, alright, I'm coming." He muttered begrudgingly.

Turning her attention to the dragons, Astrid said, "So, Stormfly, Meatlug, take good care of our guest, alright? Show him what life's like for the dragons of Berk." Stormfly trilled in response before leading Meatlug and Sky away.

Sky was rather annoyed by their blind obedience. "Why do you do as they say? You could kill them with one blow!"

"What good would that do us?" Meatlug wondered aloud.

"That's right. Those human take good care of us. Life on Berk is... Well, it's luxurious for dragons. We don't have to hunt for food or worry about attacks, just do a few small favors for the humans here and there and we're set. Besides, we're indebted to them after what Lord Hiccup and Master Toothless did." Stormfly agreed.

Playing dumb in order to test the little story, Sky asked, "What did they do?" Of course, he was taken aback by the thought of the dragons calling Hiccup "Lord" and Toothless "Master" of their own free will, but he didn't make mention of it. After all, he was trying to earn their trust and was trying to keep an open mind... But Pixie?

"They killed the Red Death," Stormfly replied, "And united our species on Berk. Master Toothless showed Lord Hiccup that the Red Death was controlling us, that we had to attack humans to get enough to feed her, and Lord Hiccup avenged us. Without him, we'd still be at war with the humans, and we'd still be under the Red Death's curse."

So their little story was true... Still, "But don't you ever wonder if they're just using you? Don't you ever think that maybe you're just pets to them?" The other two dragons laughed at the thought of this.

"Please, if we were their pets, we would all have our wings clipped as Master Toothless has, so that we could never fly alone." Meatlug pointed out, "They'd be too afraid we'd fly away."

"And they take from their own food stores to feed us," Stormfly agreed, "They don't make us hunt for ourselves. We help them, they help us. Just like any other community."

Sky eyed the two, considering this. Everything they were saying was true, but it still seemed so strange. Dragons and humans working as a team... But as he looked around the village, seeing dragons helping humans with menial daily tasks, and humans preening their dragons and feeding them with food taken off of their own plates... He even saw one human pull a splinter out of a Monstrous Nightmare's gums! Children and dragons, mostly Terrible Terrors and Hideous Zipplebacks, played together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "What are Toothless and Hiccup to you, to this... Community?"

Stormfly took a moment to consider this, "Lord Hiccup is to be the alpha of the village when his father, the current alpha, passes. He is the alpha of the younger humans, our humans, but... They don't always have much respect for him. Master Toothless is the alpha of us dragons. He maintains order and tells us how to help when Lord Hiccup is incapable of doing so himself, or doesn't think of it on his own." Stormfly leaned in, looking Sky directly in the eyes, as she added, "We obey Master Toothless as an alpha because of his vast wisdom and status as Lord Hiccup's dragon, in addition to the fact that he's done the one thing that none of us ever could have done. Master Toothless was the one who kept us alive, even before peace came between humans and dragons, and we will never let anyone cause him harm."